Vehicle-related records and documents which are stored in gloveboxes are often strewn about, and road maps are typically torn or tattered which reduces, thereby, their useful lifespan. Not only is such disorganization frustrating when trying to retrieve a particular item from a glovebox, but torn and tattered maps confound attempts to read or fold them. Further, poor organization and the lack of compactness resulting therefrom, unduly restricts the number of items which could otherwise be stored in the tight confines of a vehicle's glovebox.
Although my invention is a useful glovebox accessory, the installation of passenger-side airbags requires that the traditional glovebox be eliminated. This situation creates a problem which was unforseen only a few years ago, namely, where to store a vehicle's road maps and other vehicle-related documents. My invention anticipates this problem and provides a solution.
Heretofore, no glovebox organizer has completely nor effectively solved the problem of road-map storage. One such organizer is comprised of shelves which adjusts to fit into gloveboxes of varying sizes. Retrieving maps from such a container is awkward and time consuming since maps cannot be individually seen prior to removal.
Another glovebox organizer now on the market consists of a folder which has pockets to store road maps and vehicle records. A major deficiency of this product is that it does not incorporate any specialized features which facilitates map retrieval. When using this product, the user places all maps into the same transparent pocket, making only the outside map visible to the user. To retrieve a particular map, the user either removes all maps at once or else removes them one at a time until the desired map comes into view. Removed maps are then returned to the same pocket. It is apparent that this design requires extensive map handling and is inconvenient to the user. Furthermore, the use of a single pocket to store more than one map accelerates map degeneration.
Another product, designed exclusively to hold road maps, comprises an opaque plastic folder having a series of panels which unfold. On the inside of the folder, transparent plastic pockets are aligned with and attached to each panel. A road map may be inserted into each pocket. With this design, the user unfolds panel after panel until the sought-for map comes into view. Drawbacks to this design are: 1) for each use, the user must take the time to fold and unfold a folder which may have up to six or more panels, 2) the numerous panels create excessive bulk, and 3) the folded-out length is awkward to work with.